Sunday, February 26, 2012

ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico--A pair of University of Washington alums, Brad Walker (left/photo courtesy Drake Relays) and Scott Roth, finished 1-2 in the men's pole vault at the USA Indoor Track & Field Championships as both ensured their places on Team USA for the IAAF World Indoor Championships in two weeks in Istanbul, Turkey.

Walker, a former world indoor champion in 2006, and the 2007 world outdoor champion, opened with a make at 18-2 (5.54m), then passed two heights before clinching the win at 18-9 1/4 (5.72m) on his first attempt.

He then cleared 19-2 3/4 (5.86m) on his first attempt, then took three tries at 19-8 1/4 (6.00), missing all three times.

Walker's victory marked his fourth career USA indoor title.

Roth got the other ticket to Istanbul by making 17-11 3/4 (5.48m) on his first, then clearing 18-4 1/2 on his second attempt, a height cleared by third place finisher Mark Hollis on his third. That second attempt clearance proved to be the difference.

Afterwards, Walker said, “It was good. It was a good competition. You have to wait around sometimes indoors, and it wasn't a big deal."

“I'm happy with the way I felt and the way I jumped, but technically there are some things I can work on and improve.”

One man who may or may not be going to Istanbul is Husky alum Norris Frederick, who finished third in the long jump with a best of 26-2 3/4 (7.99m).

Oregon alum Ashton Eaton, who is already going to Istanbul in the heptathlon, won the competition with a jump of 26-5 1/2 (8.06m) over Saturday's triple jump winner, Will Claye, who jumped 26-3 3/4 (8.02m).

The situation is muddied, as Eaton is already going to Istanbul in the heptathlon. If he were to try a LJ/heptathlon double, the qualifying round in the long jump on March 9th would start 30 minutes before the start of the heptathlon high jump, which is one of Eaton's specialties.

In the case of Claye, the triple jump qualifying round is in the morning of March 10th, with the finals in the long jump that evening. Additionally, Claye is the only one of the entrants at the USA indoors who has the qualifying standard of 8.15 meters (26-9) during the qualifying period, which began on January 1, 2011.

At the Great West Indoor championships in Sterling, Illinois, freshman Cali Cull from Seattle University won the women's triple jump title, with a mark of 36-5.5 (11.11m).

For the second straight day, Erik Barkhaus finished second in an event, this time in the men's 3000 meter run after posting a time of 8:33.81, just 1.25 seconds behind the winner.

The Seattle University women finished fourth in the team standings with 79 points, while the men finished in sixth place with 57.5 points. Utah Valley cruised to the conference titles in both men's and women's indoor track and field.

At the Big Sky Conference meet in Flagstaff, Arizona, Eastern Washington's Keisa Monterola won the women's pole vault title with a leap of 14-2 (4.32m) and was named the meet's outstanding female performer.

"I was aiming for 14-5, but I still feel great. I'm peaking off with 14-2. 14-5 would've been a PR and an Olympic 'B' standard. I'm really excited (to be the Venezuelan record holder) and I know I'll keep on jumping because I know that 14-5 will be there soon."

The Eagles also picked up victories from Steven Warner in the men's 60 hurdles (8.07) and its 4 x 400 meter relay squad of Collin Green, Michael Okoro, Brad Michael and Brad Wall, as they ran 3:12.11.

Michael and Wall finished 2-3 in the open 400, running 46.97, and 47.07, as Wall's hopes of winning a fourth straight Big Sky indoor title were snapped by Northern Arizona's Adel al Nasser, who ran 46.80 for the win.

The Eagle men's team finished third with 88 points, as Northern Arizona won with 215 points. On the women's side, Weber State won with 132, while the Eagles finished eighth with 45 points.

At the SPU Last Chance meet Saturday at the Dempsey following the conclusion of the MPSF meet, Seattle Pacific senior Schumacher and sophomore Fricker moved into the national top 12 on Saturday with strong performances in the pole vault and 800 meters.

Schumacher's clearance of 12-3.5 (3.75m) was a personal best and put her tied for tenth on the national Division II list.

Fricker climbed up to No. 12 in the 800 with an astounding run of 2 minutes, 12.67 seconds. That was nearly three full seconds better than the PR of 2:15.53 that she ran in winning the GNAC title last Saturday in Nampa, Idaho.

We are honored to receive this award, as it comes from our peers who passionately cover the sport, and strive to continue the legacy of excellence that the late Adam Jacobs sought before his untimely passing.

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About Me

Internationally respected track and field writer Paul Merca brings his take on the sport to paulmerca.blogspot.com.
Paul was the assistant director of communications for the 1984 USA Women's Olympic Marathon Trials in Olympia, WA., and public relations director for the 1999 USA Cross Country Championships in Tacoma, WA.
The current public address announcer for the University of Washington's home track and field meets, Merca's been a media assistant to the USA national team (2001-11, 13, 15, 17) at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships.
His vast knowledge of the sport has been utilized by many of the country's sports television networks, and is a senior writer to Northwest Runner magazine. He's covered 13 IAAF World Track & Field Championships, and two Olympics.
Merca graduated from Seattle's Franklin High School in 1977, and received his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Washington in 1981 in Communications.
He competed in track and cross country at Franklin, and ran cross country at the University of Washington.